The path back to work for striking Port Metro Vancouver container truck drivers depends on the outcome of a late-afternoon meeting Friday between their leadership and the government authors of a 14-point proposal aimed at resolving key issues of pay and waiting times that triggered the dispute.

Unifor area director Gavin McGarrigle said the 14-point plan that was hammered out over Wednesday night and presented to drivers late Thursday as an improvement on the first recommendations put forward by veteran labour mediator Vince Ready March 6, which were rejected by Unifor drivers in a vote last Saturday.

However, going into Friday’s meeting, McGarrigle said there were “glaring holes” in the document and the unionized drivers had serious questions about how the deal will work.

The proposal, which was drafted from an updated set of recommendations Ready presented to government and port officials Wednesday, calls for an almost immediate 10-per-cent increase in the per-trip rates paid to owner-operator drivers and a promise to speed up a review of wages and fuel surcharges by the middle of next year.

The province also commits to expanding the scope of its audits, which help enforce the per-trip payments to all companies licensed to haul containers from port terminals.

The province and port will further work to devise a mechanism to harmonize rates for so-called “off-dock” movements of containers outside of terminals, which has been an issue in audits of trucking companies that have resulted in serious penalties.

“What I’m hearing from members is that they want to see an end to undercutting once and for all,” McGarrigle said. “That’s key to resolving this dispute.”

Manny Dosange, spokesman for the United Truckers Association, which represents the non-union drivers that have withdrawn services, did not return Sun phone calls before deadline, but Thursday said provisions of the proposal need immediately reduce waiting times at terminals, which leave drivers unable to make enough trips in a day to make a living.

The issue of undercutting rates appears to be a bigger issue than waiting times, said Peter Xotta, vice-president of planning and operations at Port Metro Vancouver, but the proposal includes measures to speed up the movement of containers through terminals.

One of the 14 points is a commitment by Port Metro Vancouver and terminal operators to share the costs of a pilot project to extend terminal gate hours for truck drivers on a more consistent and reliable basis.

Further, the proposal calls for an expedited roll out of the GPS monitoring system on trucks, which is used to measure waiting times and enforce time targets for getting trucks in and out of terminals. Also, a $25 late fee assessed to terminals for GPS-monitored trucks that wait longer than two hours will be paid to drivers under the proposal’s terms.

“Truck drivers, we believe, should be comforted by that level of commitment,” Xotta said.

More than 1,200 non-union truck drivers parked their rigs Feb. 26 with 400 Unifor-represented drivers joining them March 10, which brought trucking operations at Port Metro Vancouver’s four container terminals to a near halt, along with some $885 million worth of trade.

The work stoppage has seriously crimped B.C.’s trade in forest products, with inventories of container-bound lumber exports piling up and blocking reload facilities from receiving new shipments.

And importers, including local small businesses, have been stuck paying steep storage fees for merchandise that remains stranded on the dock at terminals.

“I’m scared to keep a running total of it to be honest,” said James Lepp, who has 5,000 pairs of his trendy Kikkor golf shoes trapped behind the terminal gates racking up a storage bill now accruing at $480 per day.

The shipment represents $400,000 worth of potential sales in what is a highly seasonal business.

“This is our go time, when people are ordering and we’re shipping orders to our shops,” he said.

At Liberty Wine Merchants, general manager Robert Simpson has been trying to find a way to have three containers filled with 3,000 cases of spring wines, including French Rosé and Italian Prosecco, moved out by rail to a point where it can be trucked back to Vancouver.

“Another week or so, we will start moving our wine (imports) through another port, because we can’t take the risk,” Simpson said.

1. Provide relief from current legal action. Port Metro Vancouver sought injunctions and damages against drivers over alleged violence on protest lines, which will be dropped when drivers return to work.

2. Increase regulated per-trip rates by 10 per cent within one month and do an expedited review of the regulatory framework.

3. Support the renewal of collective agreements for unionized truckers.

4. Increase audits to ensure that drivers are receiving their fuel surcharges.

14. Ensure the implementation of all commitments in the Joint Action Plan by immediately forming a committee consisting of representatives from the unionized and non-unionized trucking community, the terminals, Port Metro Vancouver, Transport Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

Source: Transport Canada

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Friday meeting could determine course of truckers’ strike

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